The already controversial serial-killer film Golden State Killer won’t screen at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, according to a new interview with the festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera. Barbera also seemed to confirm that the film, previously titled The Policeman, is written and directed by Vincent Gallo—his first since Promises Written in Water in 2010—and not by elusive filmmaker “Vito Brown,” as previously reported.
All three of you hankering for the big return of the film’s co-star, James Franco, will have to wait a bit longer for its premiere, per Variety. Gallo pulled Golden State Killer after Venice offered it out-of-competition status, with Barbera saying it was the film’s “provocative” content that kept GSK from Golden Lion consideration, which Gallo supposedly wanted. “We told him, ‘We like the film very much,'” Barbera said. “We know it is a film that is going to divide the public, but we are ready to face a complicated situation.” To that, Barbera says, Gallo balked, saying, “No, I prefer not to come.”
Golden State Killer, based on the life of notorious serial rapist and murderer Joseph James DeAngelo, stars Gallo as DeAngelo and Franco as the police detective tasked with tracking him down. It’s secured domestic distribution through Grindstone, a Lionsgate subsidiary.
With Venice in full swing, Barbera is taking heat for this year’s lineup as international catastrophes, tragedies, atrocities, and other political imbroglios become front of mind for those attending and screening at the festival. Barbera spoke about the pressure to take a political stand by refusing to screen films from countries and creators deemed problematic for a broad spectrum of reasons, ranging from Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk-riling four-hour documentary Musk, to Israel, which notably does not have a single feature in this year’s Venice lineup. Barbera’s interview was conducted during a press cocktail on Tuesday, which sounds pretty good right now.
Responding to Variety‘s query about politics at Venice (over a lime rickey, perhaps), Barbera shrugged in that urbane way artistic directors at major film festivals are wont to do, noting that it’s “almost normal” for Venice to be held to account for the films it chooses to present. Among this year’s selections are films concerning hot-button subjects ranging from Gaza, as in Palestinian filmmaker Ahmed Hassouna’s Citizen Osama—which has prompted calls for the festival to fly the Palestine flag during its run—to Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s DAU, which is receiving a much chillier reception for its alleged financial ties to Kremlin-linked oligarchs.
“There are several films that can start controversies or, at the very least, provoke very strong political reactions,” Barbera tells Variety. “They ask whether the festival—and especially the Biennale—is going to take very clear and explicit political positions. What we always say is that neither the Biennale nor the festival will make political declarations to take sides.” As far as courting controversy in the future, when asked whether Venice would screen Woody Allen’s latest film—provided the Woodman gets funding squared away first—Barbera was open to the idea. “It depends how good his next film will be! We’ll see. Maybe.” Big news for Woody Allen!
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